On Esdaile & Hypnotic Anaesthetic”: Letter to The Medical Times (1847) Excerpt from The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid[This small study could be considered to show, at best, either 30% or 60% “success” for Esdaile’s Mesmeric … Continue reading →

Excerpts from the writings of James Braid showing the founder of hypnotherapy highlighting the contradictions between hypnotism and homoeopathy, which he attacks as a pseudoscientific and nostrum (“quack”) remedy.

Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson was an early Victorian hypnotist. He was hypnotised by James Braid, the founder of hypnotherapy, observed many of his experiments, and became a hypnotist himself. Wilkinson was also a popular writer and describes the subjective experience of being hypnotised in colourful and expressive language, e.g., as a “diamond glare” of focused attention, etc.

Excerpt from James Braid’s collected writings, The Discovery of Hypnosis, in which the founder of hypnotherapy discusses the relationship between hypnotism and yogic meditation, from a sceptical perspective.

Another short snippet from James Braid, the founder of hypnotherapy, which makes it very clear that Braid emphasised hypnotism required the conscious consent of the subject and could not be used for “mind-control”, contrary to the claims of the Mesmerists.